With a friend visiting and a hankering for Indian food it was decided that we would go for a curry. Proximity and reputation led us to Namaste, supposedly the best Indian Restaurant in Phnom Penh.
To say I was not very impressed would be doing a great disservice.
Real Indian Food
OK, so how can I say it is not the best Indian restaurant in Phnom Penh? To an extent I cannot as I have not been to any others while living here. I have though eaten a lot in the UK, India, Bangladesh and at Chunking Mansions in Hong Kong.
This perhaps makes me a curry snob, but so be it. I will though make it my aim to visit much more indian restaurants in Phnom Penh, just to even things out.
Not the best Indian Restaurant in Phnom Penh – The Namaste drink menu
I can summarise the menu as overpriced and underwhelming. A Cambodia beer here costs $2.80, the same price as a Heineken and they do not even have draft. I was not too unimpressed by the cocktails at $5, so ordered a Bloody Mary Cosmopolitan to which the waiter replied “do you want a Bloody Mary or a Cosmopolitan”. I duly pointed out the menu called it a Bloody Mary Cosmopolitan after which we moved on.
To read about the best drinks in Syria click here.
The joke turned out to be on me as I received a Bloody Mary in a small cosmopolitan (actually a Margareta glass). Basically an excuse to charge $5 for half a cocktail. And it wasn’t even that great as Bloody Mary’s go.
The food at the Best Indian Restaurant in Phnom Penh.
Drinks are one thing , but food is another. The menu was threadbare and did not even include a Vindaloo, although they did make one for my friend. I had a lamb jalfrezi, with us adding butter and cheese nan bread.
The dishes actually tasted great as did the bread, but each contained about 4 pieces of meat. The nan was also small and I think this is the first Indian meal I have had where extra nan bread was not desired and needed.
And the service? Very so so at best, with little interest in refiling our drinks, or if we were happy, or not. In the end $30 for two drinks and two dishes was not great value for Phnom Penh. I don;t mind paying for something good, but this was not.
To read about French Tacos in Phnom Penh click here.
So overall not the best Indian restaurant in Phnom Penh. Namaste I will not be back, I just sincerely hope there is at least something better out there.
